Paint or stain mixing and coating apparatus for porch shades and the like



March 16,1926. 1,576,551

2.1.2. RUSSELL H PAINT 0R STAIN MIXING AND COATING APPARATUS FOR PQRCH SHADES AND THE LIKE Filed June 29, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 16 i926. 1,576,551 Z. E. RUSSELL PAINT ORSTAIN MIXING AND COATING APPARATUS FOR PORCH SHADES AND THE LIKE Filed June 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 16 1926. 1,576,551

z. E. RUSSELL PAINT OR STAIN MIXING AND COATING APPARATUS FOR PORCH SHADES AND THE LIKE Filed June 29, 1925 4 Sheets-Shget 5 I 177m Zaclaziyflfiwufl Mal-ch16 1926'. 1,576,551

Z'. E. RUSSELL MINT on STAIN MIXING AND CQATING APPARATUS FOR PORCH SHADES AND THE LIKE Filed June '29, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 199m Zaafiarylffianef/ Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

ZACHARY E. RUSiEJEJTJIJ, OF ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO CLYDE w. ARREN,

' 'SA'UK RAPIDS, IVIINNESO'IA.

PAINT OR STAIN MIXING ANDOOATING APPARATUS FOR LIKE.

PORCH SHADES AND THE Application filed .Tune 29, 1925. Serial No. 40,248.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ZAOHARY E. RUssnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Cloud, in the county of Stearns and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paint or Stain Mixing and CoatingApparatus for Porch Shades and the like; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention has for its object to provide a mixing and coating apparatus intended for general use in applying paint, stain or other liquid to articles by a: dip ping process and particularly for applying the same to porch shades of the type made up of strips of thin wood connected by cords.

To the above end, generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and con'ibinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention, like characters vindicate like parts throughout the several views,

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus with some parts sectioned and some parts removed;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in front elevatio and partly in longitudinal vertical section, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view principally in left-hand end elevational on an enlarged scale Fig. at is a transverse vertical section taken on the line l -4t of 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view with some parts sectioned on the line 55 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale; and

Fig. 6 is a detail view in plan with some parts sectioned on the line 66 of Fig. 2.

The numeral 10 indicates a kettle-like open supply tank which, as shown, is set into a floor 11 for holdinga liquid such as paint, stain or other surface coating ma terial. A long skeleton frame 12 is supported on the floo'r 11 with one of its ends extending over the supply tank 10. Mount.

ed in the frame 12, at the transverse center thereof, is a longitudinally extended dipping trough 13 that is segmentalin cross section clined return'spout 15 arranged to empty into the supply tank 10. The dipping trough 13 is su plied with the liquid X from the supp y tank. 10 through a pipe 16 by a rotary pump 17, of any suitable design; This pipe; 16 leads from the casing of the pump 17, empties into the dipping trough 13 at the receiving end thereof and is provided with a slip joint 18 and a separable joint 19 for a purpose that will presently appear. It may be here stated that the pump 17 pipe 16, dipping trough 13, port 14 and spout 15 afford a circulating system through which the liquid X is conveyed from the supply tank 10 to the clipping trough l3 and then returned to said tank from said trough. i The pump 17, as an entirety, is carried on the lower end of its driving-shaft 20 and which shaft has keyed to its upper end portion a long cylinder which affords a driving pulley 21. Said shaft 20 at the ends of the pulley 21 is journaled in a supplemental frame 22 having a pair of laterally spaced oblique guide rods 23 which extend parallel to the axis of' said shaft and are slidably mounted in fixed bearing heads 24 on a tubular cross-tie bar 25 on the frame 12. The supplemental frame 22 supports the pump 17, by its shaft 21, for oblique movement into and out of the liquid X in the supply tank 10. The purpose of thus mounting the pump 17 is to position the same substantially in the center of the supply tank 10 at the bottom thereof when in an operative position and to not interfere with an ends of outer and intermediate guide posts which rest on the floor 11 and are secured to the frame 12 at the back thereof. A portion of the chain 27, above its connection with the supplemental frame 22, is held parallel to said frame by a sheave 31 journaled in a bearing 32 on the supplemental frame 22. The counterweight as has formed in lts sides vertical grooves 33 into which the left hand and intermediate posts 30 extend for guiding said weight during its raising and lowering movement.

In addition to the circulation of the liquid X for keeping said liquid mixed and of the same consistency, l: mount in the supply tank 10 an agitator 3 in the form of a segmental bar. This agitator 3% has substantially the same contour as the bottom of the supply tank 10 and when in operation works close to the bot-tom of said tank. Said agitator is secured to the lower end of an upstanding shaft 35 journaled'in an upper bearing 36, intermediate bearing 37, and EtlOWQldlGfll ing 38. Said upper bearing 36 is rigidly secured to a bracket 39 on the frame 12, the intermediate bearing 37 is rigidly secured to a cross-tie bar 40 on said frame and the lower bearing 38 is carried by and formsa part of a cross-head frame 1-1 mounted in notched-like seats 12 in the bearings 36 and 37 for vertical sliding movement. The upper end of the agitator shaft 35 is further journaled in a gear casing 4E3 carried by the upper end of the cross-head frame 41 and having mounted therein a gear at keyed tosaid shaft.

The cross-head frame 41, agitator 3 1 and all other parts carried thereby are held where set by a counterweight 15 connected by a chain 16 to the cross-head bearing 38 and which chain runs over a guide sheave 47 on the cross-tie bar 29. This counterweight has in its sides grooves 418 into which the right and intermediate posts 30 extend and guide said counterweight.

' Mounted in the frame 12 under the dipping trough 13 is a hopper-like pan 19 in he bottom of which is a liquid-collecting trough 50 that is inclined toward the supply tank 10 and has in its discharge end a port 51 which empties into an inclined spout 52 arranged to discharge into said tank. At the front of the dipping trough 13 on the frame 12 is a skeleton support 53 in the form of a plurality of edgewise spaced bars that extend transversely in respect to said dipping trough, and their front ends are secured downwardly and inwardly. The inclined back of the pan 49 extends materially above the frame 12 and between said back and the dipping trough 13 on the frame 12 is a drain rack 54: in the form of edgewise spaced bars that extend transversely in respect to the dipping trough 13 and their rear end portions are extended upward and rigidly secured to said back. It may be here stated that the support 53 and drain rack 5-1- are located in the same plane and above the dipping trough 13.

For dipping a porch shade Y, made up of thin strips of wood connected by cords, and conveying the same through the liquid X in the dipping trough 13 I provide a plurality of edgewise spaced belts in the form of sprocket chains arranged to run transversely through the dipping trough 13 and over front sprocket wheels 56, reyed to a long shaft 57, and rear sprocket wheels 58 keyed to a long shaft 59. The shafts 57 and 59 are journaled in bearings in the ends of the hopper-like pan 4:9. The sprocket wheels 56 are located at the rear edge of the support 53, forward of the dipping trough 13, and the sprocket wheels 58 are located at the front edge of the drain rack 54c and rearward of said trough. Said sprocket wheels 56 and 58 are so located that the outer faces of the belts 55 in passing' thereover are flush with the upper surfaces of the support 53 and drain rack 54-.

To hold the belts 55 during their travel between the sprocket wheels 56 and 58 so that they move through the liquid X in the dipping trough 13 and at the same time hold the porch shade Y on the belts 55, 1 provide a plurality of axially spaced rollers 60 lo cated directly over said belts and secured to a relatively heavy tubular shaft (31. On the ends of the shaft 61 are trunnious 62 journaled in vertical floating bearings 63 having fork-like sides 64 which interlock with pairs of guide posts 65 secured to the end members of the pan 19, and guide said bearings during their floating movements. The roll ers 60 bear directly on the porch shade Y, as the same is conveyed through the dipping trough 13 and hold the same on the belts Each pair of guide posts 65 is connected at their upper ends by a tie bar 66.

To prevent the porch shade Y from winding on the rollers 60 after having passed through the dipping trough 13, there is secured to the front guide posts 65 a skeleton guard 67 the lower edge of which extends below the tops of said rollers and rearward thereof.

For guiding the belts 55 during their travel between the sprocket wheels 56 and 58, and under the dipping trough 13, there is provided an idle sprocket wheel 68 for each of said belts 55. Said sprocket wheel 68 is loosely journaled on the free end of the lon arm of a lever 69 intermediatcly fulcrumed to a bearing 70 on an angle bar 71 secured to the ends of the pan 4:9, and the short end of said lever is yieldingly held raised by a coil spring *2 anchored at 73 to the pan 49.

Obviously, the springs 72 are under strain to depress the sprocket wheels 68 to take the slack out of the belts 55. and hold the same against the porch sha under the rollers 60. I

To operate the pump 17 and agitator and drive the belts 55 and rollers'60, there is mounted on the frame 12 an electric motor 74 having on its armature shaft a pulley 7 5 and-aworm 76. A belt 77 runs over the pulleys 21 and and drives the pump 17. The purpose of the long pulley 21 is to permit the required raising and lowering movements of the pump- 17. The worm gear 76 meshes with a worm gear 78 towhich is secured an axially aligned gear '29 that meshes with the gear 44 and drives the agitator 34 when lowered into the supply tank 10, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2. When the agitator 84 is raised out of the liquid X in the tank 10,-the gear .44 is moved out of mesh with the gear 7 9 andthereby stops the driving action of .said agitator. The shaft 59 is provided with a worm de Y during its travel pinion which meshes with the worm 76 and drives said shaft and the belts 55, which run over the sprocket wheels 58. thereon. By reference to Fig. 1, it will be noted that in place of a roller 60 for the left-hand belt 55, there is a co-operating sprocket wheel 81 which drives the shaft 61 and hence the rollers 60,- which cooperate with the belts 65 for conveying the porch shade Y through the liquid X in the supply tank 10.

A casing 82 is provided for the worm 76, worm gear 78, gear 79 and worm pinion 80, and which casing 82 and the casing 43 are open at their opposingsides to permit the gear 40 to be moved axially into and out of mesh with the gear 7 9.

0 para time.

To paint, stain or otherwise coat the porch shade Y with the liquid X, the same 1s preferably rolled and placed on the support 53 and the outer longitudinal edge thereof inserted between the belts and rollers 60 and when caught therebetween will be conveyed through said liquid and deposited on the drain rack 54. The weight of the rollers ('30 and shaft 61 in such as to hold the belts 55 depressed in the liquid X so that the porch shade Y will be submerged therein, as shown in Fig. 5. All of the surplus liquid X drained from the porch shade Y when on the drain rack 54 will be precipitated into the pan 49, as well as any splash or overflow from the dipping trough 13-3, and collected in the trough 50 and conveyed back into the supply tank 10 through the port 51 and spout 52.

The circulating system for the liquid X, which includes the dipping trough 13 and pump 17, with the assistance of the agitator 34, will keep the liquid X in constant moliquid X or raised entirely out of the sameand held where set by its counterweight26. Due to the long pulley 21, the pump 17 will be continuously driven, irrespective of its elevation, by the belt 77. By mounting the pump 17 and agitator 34 for lifting movements out of the liquid X, the Work or" cleaning the supply tank 10, pump 17 and agitator 34 or making repairs is greatly facilitated. I I

' In case it is'necessary to clean the dipping trough 13, belts 55 and roller 60, the shaft 61 may be lifted out of said trough and held suspended by cables or tlielike secured in notches 83 in the upper ends of the rear guide posts 66. 7 Before the pump 17 can be raised, it is necessary to separate the pipe by moving its intermediate vertical section in the slip joint 18 to disconnect the joint 19, as shown in F 1g. 3. By mounting said pump 17 for oblique raising and lowering movements, the

same, when lowered, is at substantially the center of the supply tank 10 and when raised moves away from the cross-head frame 41 so as to not interfere therewith. In addition to the bearings in the ends of the pan 49 for the shafts 57 and 59, bearings therefor are formed in a plurality of transverse bars 84 which form parts of said frame. The intermediate portions of the bars 84 are depressed to form saddles on whichthe dipping trough 13 rests.

The above described apparatus has, in actual usage, proven highly efiicient for the purpose had in View, and has resulted in a large saving in the amount of coating material used and time required in applying the same to a'porch shade, and at the same time, the coating material is evenly applied.

hat I claim is: 1. The combination with a dipping trough, of endless belts for conveying a shade through the trough, and a floating shaft having a plurality of rollers arranged to directly rest on the shade and hold the same on said belts.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in further combination with means for driving said shaft. 5

3. The combination with a dipping trough, of pairs of horizontally laterally spaced wheels,'endless belts arranged to run over said wheels, and a floating pressure device extending between said pair of wheels and arranged to directly engage a shade and press the same onto said belts.

I 4. The structure defined in claim 3 in further combination with a yielding slack takeup device for each belt.

5. The combination with a dipping trough, of pairs of horizontally laterally spaced wheels, endless belts arranged to run over saidwheels, and a floating shaft extending between said pairs of wheels and having rollers arranged to rest directly on a shade and hold the same on said belts to be conveyed thereby through the trough.

6. The combination with a dipping trough, of pairs of horizontally laterally spaced wheels, endless belts arranged to run over said wheels, and a floating shaft extending between said pairs of wheels and having rollers arranged to rest directly on a shade and hold the same on certain of said belts to be conveyed thereby through the trough, said shaft having a wheel engaging one of the belts to drive said shaft.

7. The combination with a liquid supply tank, of a main frame, a dipping trough, a liquid circulating system including a pump for supplying the trough with liquid from the tank and returning the same to the tank from the trough, a vertically adjustable cross-head frame mounted on the main frame, and an agitator carried by the crosshead frame for a movement into and out of the liquid in the tank.

8. The structure defined in claim 5 in further combination with transmission mechanism for the pump including a driven memher on the pump journaled in the supplemental frame and in constant operative connection with the transmission mechanism irrespective of the elevation of the pump.

9. The combination with a liquid supply tank, of a main frame, a dipping trough, a liquid circulating system including a pump for supplying the trough with liquid from the tank and returning the same to the tank from the trough, a vertically adjustable supplemental frame mounted on the main frame, said pump being carried by said su plemental frame for a movement into' and out of the liquid in the tank, and transmission mechanism for the agitator including co-operating driving and driven gears, the latter of which is on the agitator and out of mesh with the former gear when the cross-head frame is raised, said driven gear being arranged to be moved into mesh with the driving gear during a downward movement of the cross-head frame to project the agitator into the liquid in the tank.

10. The combination with a dipping trough, of pairs of horizontally laterally spaced wheels, endless belts arranged to run over said pairs of wheels, a floating shaft extending between said pairs of wheels and having rollers arranged to rest directly on a shade and hold the same on said belts to be conveyed thereby through the trough, said shaft and its rollers havingsuch pressure as to hold the belts depressed between the pairs of wheels, and slack take-up devices operative on said belts below said pairs of wheels.

11. The combination with a dipping trough, of a pair of horizontally laterally spaced shafts, pairs of aligned sprocket wheels on said shafts, endless sprocket chains arranged to run over the sprocket wheels, floating shaft extending between said two shafts and having rollers arranged to rest directly on a shade and hold the same on the sprocket chains to be conveyed thereby through-the trough, and a sprocket wheel on the floating shaft and engaging one of the sprocket chains to drive the floating shaft, said floating shaft and its rollers having such pressure as to hold the respective portions of the sprocket chains depressed between said pairs of shafts.

12. The structure defined in claim 11 in further combination with individual yieldingly held sprocket wheels engaging the sprocket chains below said pair of shafts for taking up the slack therein.

13. The combination with a liquid supply tank, of a dipping trough, a liquid circulatii'ig system including a pump for supplyingthe trough with liquid from the tank and returning the same to the tank from the trough, adrain rack at the delivery side of the dipping trough, and a liquid collecting trough under said rack and arranged to discharge into the supply tank.

14:- The structure defined in claim 13 in further combination with a shade support at the receiving side of the clipping trough.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

ZACHARY E. RUSSELL. 

